Stay Positive My Friends!

I’ve been working a lot on my mindset over the past few months. One facet of this is gratitude, and complaining.

I think that I’m generally a positive person. But I’m becoming keenly aware when I want to complain about something. Now that I’m focusing on this I’m realizing how much I used to complain about things. Not just big blatant complaints. But also minor stuff throughout the day. My DVR didn’t record my show. The dandelions are popping up in my lawn. Etc.

Instead I’m focusing on the positive. I actually have cable, and a big screen to watch it on. I actually have a lawn, and I can afford to water it twice a week.

When you start shifting your mindset like this it changes your awareness of what’s going on around you. You start noticing behaviors in other people.

Here’s an example. We’re having beautiful weather right now. I was at the coffee shop this morning, sitting outside, sipping on a dark roast, reading the paper. (A great way to start any day! Amiright?)

Three guys were visiting at the next table. They seemed like the type that meet up a lot and chat. I overheard a bit of their conversation.

“Sure the weather is good now, but it’s supposed to rain this afternoon.”

“Yep, that’s how it goes. Can’t seem to catch a break.”

I started eavesdropping. Everything in their conversation, EVERYTHING was complaining.

One of them actually complained about the condition of our streets, then later complained about how hard it was to find parking because of the road construction!

I’m sure they aren’t aware of this. It’s just their perception of what’s going on around them. They focus on the negative.

We live in an amazing time my friends. Opportunities and abundance are all around us. We have a lot to be grateful for. And if we really think about it, we probably don’t have much that’s really worth complaining about.

When you stop complaining and start being thankful, it has this amazing effect of freeing up your mind. Your stress levels go down. You start seeing opportunities.

If you’re involved in any sort of coaching or mentoring program, it probably has a mindset component. Or at least it should. I encourage you to focus on that. Don’t pass it off as metaphysical BS. That’s what I used to do.

Let me know what you think. Do you focus on your mindset every day? Do you actively avoid complaining?

(If you read this whole post, thank you. I didn’t think it would be this long when I started it. But that’s how it goes sometimes.)